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Thu Jan 07, 2021 7:01 pm

Hi there,

The bus, 1960 Standard Microbus. 1600 DP with appropriate later model tranny I haven't got the exact version any more. Ronnie at Bustoration built it for me about 10 years ago. Once the bus was road worthy my daughter took off with it. We restored it for her.

Back in August we gave her out outback and now we have the bus and I am repairing all of the wear and tear. She took pretty good care of it but it has been living on the street in Eugene for the past 3 years kind of neglected.

A few months ago I re did the RDG Box seals and lo and behold, I found a smoking gun. They have been leaking from day one. Somewhere along the line someone put the large o ring around the bearing. I may have done it the first time and the various "fixers" just copied what they found.

I put it all back together and there was a dramatic reduction in leaking but not zero.

While I was doing the repair, oil was dripping from the lower hole that accepts the long bolt that holds the wheel cylinder. I just assumed that this bolt entered the lubricated volume.

Through reading posts and studying my Bentley manual I realized that this is not the case and that the seal between RDG case halves was leaking. Yesterday when we were taking it all apart we hit a snag when the spacer/collar wouldn't come off, wouldn't even budge. I didn't have my oxy/acetylene available, I tried a heat gun but no luck. We ended up grinding them until they loosened.

To be sure, these spacers slid on easily when I installed them.

I made a puller for the bearing

The problem now is that the new spacers simply will not go on. I used my heat gun again but now it wasn't heating the axle stub at the same time. I got it so hot it burned me through leather glove. Tried forcing it on but only got a cm or so and also galled the axle stub.

I am stumped, I am considering some kind of drum sander. This is very strange. I have two new spacers, neither one will go on either of the axle stubs.

I am open to suggestions

Thu Jan 07, 2021 7:15 pm

Measure stub axles and the spacers inner diameter. If the latter is smaller, then a visit to a machine shop is needed to get a little lathe work done. Spacers should easily slide on the axle.

You could have pulled the outer RGB half and pulled the spacer off with that.

Thu Jan 07, 2021 7:16 pm

Get different spacers. They should fit on without heat.

Thu Jan 07, 2021 9:47 pm

I ended up pulling the bearing that way. Keep in mind that the spacer that i grinded slid on easily at install time. It is as if the castle nut was overtightened and the stub axle got shorter and fatter. I don't actually think that's possible

Eric&Barb wrote: Measure stub axles and the spacers inner diameter. If the latter is smaller, then a visit to a machine shop is needed to get a little lathe work done. Spacers should easily slide on the axle.

You could have pulled the outer RGB half and pulled the spacer off with that.

Thu Jan 07, 2021 10:00 pm

Did you have trouble getting the drums off the splines?
If the spacer didn't fit, I'd think the drum would be super tight as well.

Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:33 am

Thanks! That's a very good point. The drums go off and on normally. One could argue large tolerances on the new spacers but that still doesn't answer the question of why the old spacers were so tight upon removal when they went on normally

j.pickens wrote: Did you have trouble getting the drums off the splines?
If the spacer didn't fit, I'd think the drum would be super tight as well.

Fri Jan 08, 2021 10:44 am

Wonder if too much torque applied pressured the spacers so much that they got squashed. That in turn would increase OD and reduce ID.

Fri Jan 08, 2021 11:31 am

Which is more likely than the axle stub being distorted. Possible but can it be true at the same time as the new ones not going on?

Eric&Barb wrote: Wonder if too much torque applied pressured the spacers so much that they got squashed. That in turn would increase OD and reduce ID.

Fri Jan 08, 2021 12:05 pm

harrywt wrote: Possible but can it be true at the same time as the new ones not going on?

:lol: News Flash!! New parts are all too often junk. Thusly most folks find that used original German made parts that have not been abused or worn out, fit and work better....

Wolfsburg West is one of the better VW parts supply shops and even they have sold some junk now and then. It costs money to have parts checked and rechecked, that does not do well when most folks only shop for the lowest price.

At least WW is much better than EMPI, that is much easier to tell you which parts they sell that usually work. Than to try to list page after page of garbage they sell. So sad that such a company that had quality parts and innovations, has been turned into such a turd.

Fri Jan 08, 2021 6:04 pm

BTW it is Reduction Gear Box = RGB. If you update the title, future searches can find this thread.